Knox Co. daycare owner enters plea in abuse case

The Knox County daycare owner, arrested by Kentucky State Police in April, entered an Alford plea Thursday morning in Knox District Court.

An Alford plea allows a defendant to plead guilty to the crime but still maintain his or her innocence.

State Police arrested Tracy Fore April 10 after people at the Rainbows and Lollipops daycare said Fore sat on a child in order to get him to sleep. An employee took a photo of the incident.

Troopers charged Fore with first-degree criminal abuse, a felony. On Thursday, prosecutors offered her a plea deal that amended the charge third-degree criminal abuse, a misdemeanor.

As part of the plea, Fore will have to pay a $133 fine. She’s also on 12-months probation and will have to serve 180 days in jail if she gets into any legal trouble during that time. The agreement says Fore cannot have contact with the daycare in question and cannot own one. She’s also banned from having contact with the employee who took the photo, and she’s agreed to cooperate with a state investigation into the incident.

Fore’s husband, Billy Fore, still faces charges in a related incident. Police charged him after he allegedly called the daycare after his wife’s arrest, demanding to know who took the photo of his wife sitting on the child.

Prosecutors say he made a threat when he made that phone call. His case is set to go before a Knox County grand jury.